False Life
by Kimyko
Summary: What does it mean to be truly human? Previously: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. Revamped.
1. Prologue

**False Life**

By

Kimyko

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Batman Beyond or any of the characters associated with it.

**A/N: **I've revamped everything. The first two chapters have more, uhm, substance, I guess, but what happens is more or less the same.

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The night was dark and a cold wind blew through the streets of Gotham. A large moon hovered in the center of a clear sky, a stark contrast from the blackness of the evening, illuminating the city below with its pale, ivory light. Tonight the city appeared content, even peaceful. Above it all, a lone figure stood peering over the edge of some building, high above the gaze of regular people, as if keeping watch to ensure that the city remained as peaceful as it seemed to be. The dark figure was clad in a suit just as dark with an insignia of a bat shining brightly across his chest in blood-red. It was his symbol, to remind everyone, villain and innocent alike, who he was and what he stood for.

"I think it might actually be a quiet night today."

Batman spoke aloud, seemingly to himself as he spread out his arms and jumped, almost elegantly, off the edge of the building. As he descended, the rockets on his heels came to life and allowed him to glide effortlessly onto the adjacent rooftop.

"Don't count on it, McGinnis." The rough voice traveled back to him, demanding and caustic as usual.

Batman merely nodded in response, sweeping his gaze through the streets attentively, searching for what could be even a potential indication of danger. The old man was right, of course, as he always was when it came to things such as this. And in time, Terry would also come to realize that there was never a moment when the entire city was stagnant. Criminals lurked everywhere, making the streets unsafe for members of Gotham. Even petty thieves needed to be stopped, and that was a responsibility that often appeared to fall solely on his shoulders. However, he was still a child and at one o'clock in the morning, all he wanted to do was go to bed.

"I really don't think anything's going on," he repeated. "I'll do one more round and –"

He stopped as a scream cut through the night air, shattering the illusion of peace. "What was that?" he wondered aloud, jumping off the building toward the source of the noise. It was a fair distance away, considering the sound was almost muffled when he heard it. Yet it had obviously been loud enough to rouse the police who sped from the police station in their cars, sirens wailing overhead.

However, despite their severe disregard for traffic safety, Batman beat them to their destination: a park located on the outskirts of the city. It seemed empty now, with the only sound coming from the leaves of trees rustling in the wind. Batman landed and gazed about the park, suspicious despite, or perhaps because of of, the silence.

With his guard up, Terry stalked down a path running down the length of the park, but stopped suddenly when he felt something wet and almost sticky beneath the soles of his feet. He looked down, hoping that it was nothing but water. It was blood. A large puddle of it pooled up beneath him, reflecting the light of the moon and turning it red.

But where was it all coming from?

Something dripped on his head and trickled slowly down the side of his face, answering the question. Batman looked up in confusion and what he saw robbed him of his words.

"Oh, my God…" he managed to breathe out finally as he stared in awe at the body hanging lifelessly from the tree branch in front of him.

It was a girl, probably no older than him. Blood was running down the sides of her mouth. A blindfold had been wrapped around her eyes and crimson streaks stained her cheeks, giving the impression that she had been crying tears of blood. Her arms were tied behind her back with what looked like piano wire which continued to thread up to her neck, disappearing only in the presence of a thick noose. A deep would was present in her throat where most of her life had leaked out, but attached to her chest was a piece of yellowed parchment, held in place by a beautiful, silver dagger.

"Terry, what do you see?"

The old man's voice pulled him out of the almost hypnotic trance the sight had placed him in. He placed his hand to the side of his cowl to switch on the vid-link, allowing Bruce to see the body. Unlike Terry, Bruce had seen enough death in his day to not react in the same way as he.

"What is that?" he questioned, referring to the piece of paper.

"It's a note, I think," Batman answered, trying his best to keep his voice from shaking. His jet boots carried him high enough to remove the dagger from the girl's flesh so that he could take the folded paper. The tip of the blade along with various spots on the parchment was stained red, and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach as he wondered what kind of person could do something like this.

Once on the ground, he opened it so that both he and the old man could read. Upon the thin paper, a message was written in exquisite, calligraphic handwriting:

_To my Beloved,_

_This is a gift from the one who loves you truly._

_A false life, a cursed existence. _

_This doll sitting on the mantelpiece;_

_A mere reflection of greater beauty._

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**A/N**: I needed to change the note at the end. It still sucks, but…I'll change it later. Too lazy to do it right now.


	2. Dawn on a Funeral Day

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Batman. I do, however, own the characters I've created.

**A/N**: In this chapter, the major change is that Benedictine's name is now Evelyn and we get to see a little bit more about that guy.

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**Dawn on a Funeral Day**

"The world can be cruel."

The girl from behind the podium spoke with a soft voice that was becoming more ragged with each word. Her eyes, ice-blue, threatened to spill over with tears as she gazed out into the audience consisting of strangers and a camera crew.

"It must be," she said, "To take my sister away from me so violently."

Her eyes closed and she drew a shaky breath, allowing a thin stream of salty liquid to trail down her cheek, staining her pale skin before dropping onto the black fabric that hung loosely upon her thin frame. She sighed and turned her head downwards, refusing to look at the crowd. Her black hair cascaded down as she did this, covering her face and her apparent sorrow.

After a moment, she looked up again, scanning through the crowd, looking deep into the faces of those people who could never understand what she was feeling right now. The camera crew in the background disturbed her the most. Later on that night, when families flocked around their television sets to watch the news, this was what they would see, for the mysterious death of Lilliana Cordova had instantly become front page news. No matter how hard they tried, such a prestigious family as theirs could never seem to keep such personal matters private. She knew that the only thing to do now was to play along with the wishes of the press. Any reluctance or secrecy on their parts and the public would begin to suspect something.

"It doesn't seem fair. We used to be told how similar we were, all because we shared the same face. But, we were connected by something much deeper. She _was _me, and I was her. Now that she's gone…I feel as if a part of me has gone too."

Evelyn bit her lip, eyes tearing up once more as she gripped the podium, her body shaking slightly.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't think I can…"

All eyes were on her as she stepped away from the stand and into the comforting embrace of her father, a handsome, middle-aged man who patted her shoulder before walking up to the podium himself to make a speech.

&&&

The funeral went as well as could be expected. Everybody had been crying in the end, even the cameramen, for both the girl and her father had given moving speeches with reflected with apparent sincerity the sadness and regret they felt over the unnecessary death of someone they loved. While the affairs of the Cordova family often seemed shrouded in mystery, their actions never led anyone to believe they were anything less than human.

During the mourning party afterwards, Evelyn excused herself to her room after just a few minutes, weaving in and out of the people with a cold expression.

"It's been a long day," she explained to those who asked her, "And I just want to be alone."

Once outside of the grand ballroom, Evelyn made her way through the various twists and turns of their mansion towards her room, which was located far away from the rest of the house. Once there, she closed the door behind her, not bothering to turn on the lights; she preferred to stay in the dark for just a little while longer. Her fingers made their way to the hollow of her throat as she tugged at the black brooch hanging from it. She threw the piece of jewelry carelessly onto her enormous bed before following suit.

In the darkness, she had the chance to think for the first time since the incident. Of course, what did she have to think about? There was so much it almost made her dizzy. She burrowed her face into the soft fabric of her pillow and wondered out loud, "How could this possibly get more complicated?"

"You are honestly asking the question?"

A masculine voice attracted her attention as she shot up from the bed to turn her gaze toward the man standing at the doorway, a smirk playing at his lips. His face brought out a disgusted sort of recognition onto her previously expressionless features.

He appeared to be middle-aged, late forties, early fifties, probably. At the very least, he was younger than her father, and he was handsome despite his age, especially dressed in that dark suit. He was tall, and his black hair, natural, fell in an almost elegant manner into hazel-coloured eyes. His hair wasn't long, really, but it seemed to just…flow perfectly in a way that complimented his strong features. Yes, anybody who looked at him could tell he was a real lady-killer.

But his appearance mattered nothing to Evelyn.

"What do you want?" she questioned severely.

"I simply wanted to give my condolences to the mourning sister," he replied, seeming almost insulted that she would speak to him in such a biting manner. Though to a casual observer, he appeared sincere, there was a slight undertone in his voice that Evelyn noticed immediately, even if she couldn't figure out exactly what he meant by it.

She took a step back as he came forward into her room, refusing to meet his gaze. "Is that so?"

"Of course," he answered, closing the distance between them. Taking her hand in his, he kissed it, an action which would have caused any other female to melt instantly. With another swift motion, he pulled her hand toward him in a way that caused her to fall forward into him as he continued, arm placed securely around her narrow waist, "Oh, and I also wanted to compliment your speech today."

Evelyn narrowed her eyes and looked away, only to have his hand grab her chin and turn her head back to look at him.

"It was beautiful," he said, smiling almost kindly, "Heart-wrenching and sincere, perfectly executed…you would've made a great actress."

At this, Evelyn's hand came out and she struck the man across his smirking face with a resounding slap. He pulled back, his hands raised defensively in front of him as if he had no idea what he did to receive such a blow, yet his eyes continued to hold an amused expression as he watched her walk around him, icy-blue eyes burning with an indescribable emotion. She continued to glare at him as she walked toward the door, ignoring for a moment that it was, in fact, her room they were standing in. Before she walked away, she said only one thing in her defense.

"Shut up."

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**A/N:** Okay, so…I made the guy a little different. I thought the way I previously did it didn't show enough about his character, so I did this. To be honest, I love him. I based him off of the doctor from Yami no Matsuei, where I stole the poem thing in the prologue. But that's it, I swear, the rest shall come from my own brain. Or at least, it won't be a blatant rip from that particular manga.


	3. Not a Date

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Batman Beyond or any of the characters associated with the show. I do, however, own the characters that I've created.

**A/N:** Okay then. Almost after literally a year on hiatus, I have finally got a new chapter up. It's pre-summer miracle. (Check out the last two chapters, they've been changed a bit. Not much, though.)

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**Not a Date**

The subway station was crammed with people, men and women going to work, students going to school, and those few who didn't seem to be going anywhere at all. Among them were two people in particular; a handsome young man with light, blue eyes and his African American best friend who had short, shocking pink hair. They pushed their way through the crowd onto the subway car with the rest of the school crowd and managed to find two empty seats beside a girl dressed in a black hooded jacket.

"So what's the update?" Max Gibson asked once they were seated. "Any news on the Lilliana Cordova murder?"

"No, not yet." Terry spoke in quiet, mumbled tones, trying to ensure that the conversation stayed between him and his friend. While everybody was talking about the murder, nobody knew much, not even the police, so he didn't want it to look like he had any inside information which, to his disappointment, he didn't. Murder cases weren't usually up his alley; Batman tended to leave those crimes to the police and focus on protecting people who were still alive. However, the nature of the crime and the fact that Bruce had contacts with the Cordova family made this particular case an exception.

"The old man's doing his best, but so far nothing." He sighed and slumped further down on the dirty, subway seat, looking a little dejected. Two days had passed since the funeral had taken place and absolutely no leads had popped up, not for the police or for Batman. "Whoever did it was a professional."

"Any suspects, at least?"

"Well…" There was one. The twin sister of Lilliana, but Terry had his doubts about that. She wasn't that much older than him, and it was unlikely that she could be so efficient. Unless, of course, she had hired some sort of hit man. "There's her sister."

"Evelyn?"

"Yeah. The police think that she's currently the only one with the proper motive," he answered. "If her sister dies, then she becomes the sole heir to her father's fortune when _he_ dies."

"Really?" Max exclaimed in an interested voice that told him that she apparently did not know this. "I wonder how much it is."

"Billions. Enough to rival Mr. Wayne's."

A low whistle escaped Max's lips and her eyes widened just imagining the amount. "Well, that'd definitely be motive enough for me. I wouldn't be surprised if she did do it. Y'know, I think –"

"Excuse me."

The voice cut her off just as she was about to say, _"…that Batman should do some private investigating, if you know what I mean."_ She turned her gaze toward the girl beside them whose hood had been pulled down, revealing the cold blue eyes of Evelyn Cordova.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said. She spoke in a voice that was quiet and feminine, with an air of distant politeness. "But if you're going to discuss my personal affairs, would you mind not doing so as if I weren't sitting right here?"

The two friends were speechless for a moment as they stared at the girl, realizing that she was, in fact, the person they were talking about. Max, personally, was grateful that Evelyn interrupted when she did. Yet at the same time, she was embarrassed like anybody would be if they were caught talking about somebody behind their back. Still, it was no surprise that both she and Terry failed to notice her at first, for the girl before them looked almost nothing like the beautiful and elegant lady that appeared on television. Instead of being dressed in designer clothing, she wore a pair of loose jeans and a simple jacket which seemed to almost swallow her, and her face, which on camera appeared to glow with ethereal beauty, was noticeably paler and lacking in colour.

It wasn't as if she was ugly, though. She just didn't resemble the dressed up doll she often appeared to be. Even without all the make-up and expensive clothing, Evelyn still possessed a natural beauty of her own and continued to portray the same sophistication and poise expected from a member of her family.

"I'm sorry," Max apologized sincerely.

"It's fine," Evelyn replied with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. "I suppose it was more my fault for eavesdropping."

With that, she turned away so that she could stare out of the window at the passing scenery. What followed next was an awkward silence in which neither Max nor Terry knew exactly what they should talk about now that they were aware that the girl sitting next to them might be paying attention.

&&&

After a painful twenty minutes on the subway train, the doors finally slid open to allow access to the Hamilton High School campus. Terry was a little confused when he saw the girl leave with the rest of his classmates, and watched her suspiciously as she entered through the double doors of the school. Half of the school seemed to be whispering about her behind her back as she passed them on her way to her locker, but she ignored them all, never once reacting the way she did with Terry and Max on the subway.

"Since when did she go to our school?" Terry asked when they came inside. He swiped his identification card across the scanner of his locker, his eyes still focused on the black-haired girl as she innocently went about her day.

"Uhm…last year," Max answered. She had already visited her locker and was leaning against Terry's locker nonchalantly, chewing a piece of bubble gum that was almost as pink as her hair. "Transferred over from some private school."

"What? How come I didn't know that?" He gave another glance toward Evelyn who was now deeply engaged in conversation with a senior that Terry also barely knew. It was strange how despite everything going on in her life, she could still behave like that; completely at ease, as if she were unaware of everything else going on around her. …Perhaps it was time to reignite her status as a suspect.

"I don't know," Max shrugged. "Since she came, I don't think she's really talked to anyone. She's kind of quiet."

"What about him?" Terry asked, referring to the senior Evelyn was talking to. She didn't seem very shy now.

"Oh, you mean Daniel? He's the exception to the rule." She explained, "They came here about the same year and have been inseparable ever since."

"Seriously?" Terry looked at them with a doubtful expression on his face. The guy was tall, lanky, with messy red hair and a pale face sprinkled with light freckles. His fingers were long and spidery and he had thin wrists. Also, his height forced him to hunch over so that he could look his friend in the eye while they spoke. He had brilliant green eyes though they were hidden behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that were too big for his face. In short, he was a nerd in almost every way. As a result, the two seemed an unlikely pair for Evelyn was just as pretty as any of the girls in Hamilton, and while Daniel was probably a nice guy, that meant little in the world of high school.

"Yeah. Watch. They even have most of the same classes."

Almost as if on cue, the morning bell rang overhead, indicating the beginning of class and as she predicted, Evelyn and Daniel stalked off in the same direction together, side by side.

&&&

Lunchtime came slowly, as it always did, and Terry took the opportunity to make a call to his mentor in order to inform him of the new information he gained.

"Wayne," he said softly, speaking softly into the mouthpiece of his cell phone. "Guess what I found out. That girl, Evelyn, she goes to my school."

There was a long silence before the reply came, sounding a little bit annoyed. "I guess you weren't really listening when I pulled up her school records yesterday, huh?"

More silence.

"Hey, cut me a break. Yesterday was a busy night." Terry's excuse was undoubtedly true. In face, the night before, Terry barely had a chance to even talk to Mr. Wayne face-to-face. The conversation that he was talking about occurred while Terry was fighting a gang of Jokerz, and while that wasn't a particularly difficult task, it was distracting.

"Do you at least remember what I told you to do?"

The pause was answer enough.

"I want you to get close to her," he prompted.

"Say what?" It was a rhetorical question, of course, but Terry still hoped that he misunderstood. While dealing with criminals as Batman and going undercover had never been an issue for him, he wasn't entirely ecstatic about the idea of making friends with those he barely knew who probably didn't think much of him anyway, even if it was just pretend. High School had a very rigid social ladder and people just didn't move back from one rung to another. Plus, with his 'job,' Terry had enough people questioning him. He didn't need to have anything else added to his list of abnormal behaviours.

"You heard me."

With that, the line went dead and Terry was left stupidly staring into his phone.

&&&

"Well, that's not so bad," Max said as she and Terry walked to class together. It was an elective class designed to build up valuable social skills for the future. Most of the time, however, kids simply took it so they could get an easy grade doing nothing more than hanging out with their friends. That was certainly the reason he took it. "Evelyn and Daniel are in this class too, and Mrs. is giving out a new project today. It's perfect."

She was right. The projects assigned generally consisted of small projects between two people – sometimes it was more, but not often – and most times they lasted for a few days. It really was convenient, though it didn't make Terry want to do it any more.

"Hello class," greeted Mrs. as the students took their seats. Max and Terry took a seat at a table in the back, next to the two friends. "Today we're going to do a project on interaction between members of the opposite sex."

Around the room, everybody was already scooting closer to the person who they wanted as their partner.

"I'm sure you've all gone on bad dates and wished you could tell the person what they did wrong. Well, now you can. You are to pair up and go on 'dates,' so to speak, and at the end of the month, you are to write a thorough paper describing how well your partner did, what they could have done to improve, what you liked, etcetera. And then you will read it to the class. This is part of your final project, so don't take this lightly. On the count of three, pick your partners. …Three."

With that, the teacher leaned back against her desk and watched as the students shuffled around the classroom picking partners. Terry gave a small sigh and stood up, walking to the table where the black-haired girl was sitting. He was certainly glad that Dana was not in this class, or else he would have probably found himself suddenly without a girlfriend.

"Hey," he said, flashing them a friendly, albeit, awkward smile.

"Uhm, hi…"

The two looked at him expectantly and after a few seconds of silence, Terry continued. "Uh, Evelyn, do you want to be my partner?"

While Evelyn's polite nature prevented her from saying 'no' outright, her eyebrows shot up so far that they disappeared underneath her bangs. "Uh…" she started, looking slightly perturbed, not knowing exactly how to reply.

"Don't you already have a girlfriend, McGinnis?"

She was spared the effort of answering when Daniel interjected. His words had the potential to be extremely rude, yet he managed to use a tone that simply sounded as if he were curious. He didn't seem all too happy about it, though.

"Yes, well." Terry cleared his throat slightly, wasting time so he could figure out a proper reply to that question. One that hopefully wouldn't come back to bite him. "This is just a project and…I was kind of rude to her this morning, so…"

"This is your way of making up for it?" Evelyn looked confused. "If it is, then don't worry about it. It doesn't matter to me. Besides, I'm already –"

"Terry, Evelyn." The teacher called out to the two, interrupting Evelyn's answer. For a couple of minutes, she had been walked around, observing the progress of her students. "You guys working together?"

"Well, not…not really." Evelyn was thoroughly confused now, throwing glances back at her friend, then Terry, and finally the teacher.

"Well, I think you should." She spoke in a voice that clearly told them they didn't have a choice in the matter. "The point of this class is to interact with other people, and you two play it safe more than any other person in this class. So, switch partners. Daniel, you're with Max, and Evelyn, you're with Terry."

With that she walked away, leaving behind her three very dissatisfied students. Max really didn't care either way.

&&&

"So do you want to meet up after school so we can figure out what to do for our project?"

Evelyn, in the process of picking up her books, shot Terry a look that subtlety told him that she was annoyed, to say the least. To be honest, he wasn't particular happy either, but at least he pretended to be. He knew that if he wasn't able to get something from her, Bruce would be angry with him, and that would annoy him more than having to do this.

"I can't today." She said finally, tucking her books under her arms. "I've got a doctor's appointment after school and a lot of other stuff that probably won't be finished until about nine. Maybe we can get together later this week."

She gave him a polite nod, indicating that she was going to leave, and walked out the door only to have him follow her.

"Actually," he said, "Nine is great. I've got a late-night job."

Her expression was clearly a suspicious one. In her year at Hamilton, Terry had never taken an interest in her before, and now, of all times, he was being so insistent about a stupid school project that most people would have just done at the last moment. Still, she was in a hurry. School was over and not only did she have that appointment, she wanted to catch up with Daniel who left right after class without waiting for her. She didn't have time to deal with this.

"Okay, then," she said with a defeated sigh. "I'll meet you at the coffeehouse downtown at nine thirty, alright?"

Terry nodded. "Yeah, that's perfect."

"I guess I'll see you later, then."

"See ya."

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**A/N:** Sorry that it's a little boring. Hopefully the next chapter will be more exciting. Coming back, I hoped to have something more exciting, but I guess that didn't happen.

When I first created Daniel, I thought I might want him to be one of those stunningly, drop-dead gorgeous, guys that generally show up in fanfiction, but I decided to be a little different. Plus, I adore guys like Daniel. A little dorky, maybe, but smart with a good heart.


End file.
